Draft:Wand of polymorph

Omega 0.90.4

Wand of polymorph/TypeWandBase value (Au)1000Item level3Weight80Unidentified appearanceRandom wand appearanceCursed nameWand of stupidity

A wand of polymorph changes a creature's form, replacing many of its abilities while retaining some of its old strengths. Targeting yourself ends the game. A cursed copy is called a wand of stupidity and requires a stronger replacement form, with a serious selection failure at high monster levels.

Generation

It is an item-level-3 random wand, normally with 1–20 charges, random blessing and +0 enchantment. Random loot, pawn-shop stock and acquirement can supply it. Its appearance is shuffled like other ordinary wands; the initial definition's appearance is not a reliable identification clue.

Description

The effect directly checks the selected square, without a projectile, hit roll, distance or line-of-sight check. Unlike cursed attack wands, a cursed polymorph wand still uses the selected target rather than automatically turning on the player.

Target or condition	Result
User	Immediate death; no damage or immunity check
Empty square	No effect
Other-magic immunity	Resists and becomes hostile
Monster level L, without that immunity	Resists if L exceeds a random 0–11; resistance also makes it hostile
Successful noncursed use	Random eligible common form, regardless of the original level; positive blessing and enchantment do not improve the selection
Successful cursed use	Requires an eligible form of strictly higher level; selection cannot finish if none exists

For ordinary nonnegative levels up to 11, the nominal chance of passing the level check is (12 - L) / 12; level 12 or higher always resists. The replacement pool excludes special or unique templates, historical adventurers and master thieves. It has no dungeon-difficulty filter and does not let the player choose a form.

What survives the change

A successful change replaces speed, hit, defense, damage, senses, wake-up distance, appearance, behavior, attacks and special actions. It makes the result hostile. However, current HP and level never decrease, old immunities are retained alongside the new form's immunities, and existing possessions remain. HP and kill experience are not reset to the normal values shown in the new species' information card.

The new form supplies the remains identity and alchemical destination, but transformation does not grant that species' normal starting equipment or a fresh random inventory. Do not treat it as killing one monster and generating a normal replacement.

Cursed selection failure

The highest-level common templates available to the selection loop are level 9. Consequently, if a level-9-or-higher target passes the initial resistance check during cursed use, the source keeps looking for a strictly higher common form that does not exist. This is a source-confirmed nonterminating selection path, not a reported gameplay test; avoid that use.

The wand reveals its type and spends one charge before targeting, including when the target resists or the square is empty. Escape is not checked before looking up the selected square. Cancel during item selection rather than relying on the aiming prompt.

Strategy

Polymorph is an uncertain way to exchange an enemy's attacks and movement. It may remove a troublesome special action, but can produce a more dangerous form, preserves existing immunities, and cannot reduce current HP or level. A visually weak result is therefore not necessarily as weak as an ordinary member of that species. Dispelling is a different option when the target is within its level limit: it removes powers without randomly replacing the body.

Identify the wand and establish its curse status before deliberate use. Never test an unknown wand on yourself: polymorph's self-target branch is fatal even when noncursed. Recharging gives more attempts, but greater enchantment or positive blessing does not improve the resistance check or guarantee a favorable form.